Quay Po Cooks: lemon curd mousse

Showing posts with label lemon curd mousse. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

My son's dream is realized but I am still dreaming

Everyone has a dream. My dream is to become a dancer but looks like this will remain a dream only. During my time as a teenager, my parents will never support this passion I have, especially my Dad. He was very old school, no way he would support his daughter to become a dancer. In his mind, it is not a professional job, professional jobs are doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Teenagers now are luckier bunch, most parents are very supportive in their endeavors and adventures, don't you think so?

I love all kinds of dances from folk dance, social dance, ballroom, line dance, latin, hip hop, and even belly dancing. What about hip hop? Can I really do it at my age? Why not? Of course there are some acts that I should not try so as not to break my old bones but the answer is yes, I can do it. Same for belly dancing, the right isolating technique must be applied, if not, I may be isolating my bump from my boops permanently! So far so good, they are intact. LOL!

About 5 years ago, I attended a 2-days tribal belly dancing workshop conducted by the famous Sharon Kihara from USA. She is very beautiful, friendly and un-pretentious. I enjoyed her classes very much. At the end of the workshop, we got to see her perform live. Her dance moves are very sensuous. The control she had over her movement is unbelievable. Watch this video and you will understand what I am talking about. Even if you do not care about belly dancing, give this video clip a chance, you might discover a new genre of music that you might like. Of all the belly dancing music I have, I love this one the most. It sounds very mysterious and captivating.

After the course we were presented with a certificate of attendance. Here is a photo of Sharon and I. It was taken after she presented the Ceritificate of Attendance to me. This photo is not very clear because it was taken by my old mobile phone.... yes, silly me forgot to bring my camera on the last day. I value this picture taken with her because she is my belly dancing idol. Did you notice the tatoo on Sharon's hands and body? They are just artistically, knock-out beautiful! I won't dare to put a tattoo on my body because I am a "chicken"! I don't like the sound of the needle and I don't think I can stand the pain. I admire nice tatoo though. LOL!

When I was into belly dancing I was crazy over all the sexy and attractive glittering outfit and accessories. I have a whole wardrobe of outfits and accessories that I have not worn for three years now. Here are a few of my favorite sets. Aren't they beautiful?

The last time I performed a belly dance was at my high school classmate, Soo Har's wedding lunch. We had so much fun and my other classmates who were there enjoyed the brief choreography I had put together for her.

Dancing will always be a passion of mine. I feel peaceful, free and happy while nothing seems to bother me when I dance. I have not danced for a long time but I would love to start dancing again. Maybe someday, I will put on all the glittering outfits and accessories and dance again, "like no one is watching"!

I better stop dreaming and get back to food. Since I am talking about passion, I have this passionate recipe to share with you. It is something nice to go for if you feel hot and sweaty. Absolutely appropriate to have on crazy hot weathers like now. This is to be served cold so it is very refreshing. This makes a very impressive dessert to serve to your guests too and it taste delicious.

Lemon curd mousse with dragon fruit

Ingredients:

Lemon curd

1 cup whipped cream 1/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups lemon curd

1 dragon fruit, cut into bite size.

Method:

First prepare the lemon curd. Click here or on the photo to go to the recipe.

When the lemon curd is done, put aside. Put whipped cream in the mixing bowl and whisk until you see “soft peak”. Fold cream into the curd gradually. Gently fold it until well mixed. Spoon into your favorite glass ware, layering dragon fruit with mousse and have pieces of dragon fruit on top layer. This can be served right away, or refrigerated for up to 8 hours. Make sure to cover with cling wrap before putting in the fridge. As in mousse or most creamy puddings, the cling wrap should be touching the fruits and lemon curd evenly across the entire surface so as to avoid air exposure and any unwanted oxidation or formation of a "skin" on top. Serve very chilled.

A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.